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'Legendary Nights'
By Steve Kim (February 5, 2003)
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On March 5th, HBO, which is celebrating its 30 years covering boxing, will debute it's highly anticipated 12-part series 'Legendary Nights', which takes a look back at the most memorable fights that were televised by the network.
As usual, we can expect the typical high quality work that HBO Sports is known for. You can be assured that the production will be first-rate and cutting edge. The writing will be sharp and incisive, and host Jim Lampley will be his eloquent self.
The shows will run for a half-hour in primetime for 12 straight weeks and the build-up has been high. In their recent telecasts, HBO have given viewers a preview of what they've been working on and it looks like 'must see' TV.
But there is one slight problem. It seems that HBO forgot the not-so-small detail of getting footage clearance from Main Events and Top Rank -- two promotional firms that promoted a large majority of the fights to be featured and own the rights to the bouts. A source tells us that after a year, HBO is restricted to using no more than three minutes of footage on any fights on its airwaves. And this window has long closed on all the bouts that are to be featured.
This leaves HBO in a precarious position since they have already marketed and advertised this series to a point where the show must go on at all costs. Both Main Events and Top Rank have all the leverage in the world and both companies will be using it to get future dates out of HBO among other concessions.
It's kind of like finding a lost wallet, with not only your drivers license, social security card, credit cards and unused condom intact, but also an extra $500 dollars. We should all be so lucky. From what MaxBoxing has been told, Maiin Events is much more amenable to having a quick and easy resolution to this situation, but it's no secret that Bob Arum has been fueding with the HBO brass for quite awhile and is much more likely to raise a ruckus over all this.
LEGENDARY NIGHTS
Here are the 12 bouts that will be featured on the series:
* Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns (1981)
* Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney (1982)
* Aaron Pryor-Alexis Arguello I (1982)
* Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns (1985)
* Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard (1987)
* Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor (1990)
* The Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe trilogy (1992-1995)
* George Foreman-Michael Moorer (1994)
* Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota I and II (1996)
* Oscar De La Hoya- Felix Trinidad (1999)
* Lennox Lewis- Mike Tyson (2002)
APRIL 12TH
As of Tuesday afternoon, there was still no final word on just who Marco Antonio Barrera was going to face on April 12th on HBO Pay-Per-View, but one source close to the situation told me that Oscar Larios, Kevin Kelley and Guty Espadas were the three finalists.
I hear that one of the reasons that Larios is reluctant to take the fight (other than of course, money) is that he would prefer to fight Barrera in a 10-rounder so that he won't be in jeopardy of losing his WBC jr. featherweight title. And don't forget, WBC president Jose Sulaiman may look down unfavorably on any of his champions facing Barrera, with whom he has been at odds with along with his manager Ricardo Maldonado for years.
MARQUEZ-HAMED
It seems that there was a quote attributed to Juan Manuel Marquez that said something to the effect that fighting Naseem Hamed would be like fighting terrorism. Well, it looks like it was just a very, very tasteless joke by comedian Paul Rodriguez that was somehow attached to what Marquez said after his title winning performance against Manuel Medina on Saturday night. Marquez was a featured attraction on Top Ranks 'Night of Fury' pay-per-view telecast and Rodriguez was the show's host -- why? We don't know and never will understand.
But back to Hamed, it brings up an interesting point brought up to me by a prominent manager who told me "You know, it's gonna be tough to bring Hamed back here to the States after 9-11. That stuff about 'Allah' being the best and flying in on flying carpets isn't going to go over well here anymore". Which is a great point. If Hamed is serious about taking on the game's best featherweights and a rematch with Barrera, will he be willing to leave the safe confines of Britain and an HBO deal that allows him to face the likes of Manuel Calvo and possibly Michael Brodie in June?
Fair or not, Hamed would be in a very tough spot fighting in the United States in light of current world events and the natural prejudices some might have. But at the same time, he was very upfront about his beliefs and when you do that, you open yourself up for certain things. He would have been much better off if he would have just seperated church from sport.
ALADDIN
It looks like Lou DiBella will have a non-televised card on March 21st from the Aladdin in Las Vegas. Seriously, I didn't even know that the Aladdin was still standing. Featured on that night will be Brian Viloria, Kofi Jantuah and Yuri Foreman.
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com
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